Austrian Airlines' shares jump as Lufthansa pursues an extension for its takeover

Shares in Austrian Airlines surged 7.1% yesterday, as Lufthansa pursued its proposal to takeover the carrier. Lufthansa, in agreement with Austrian's state-owned majority shareholder, Österreichischen Industrieholding AG (ÖiAG), filed an application with the Austrian Takeover Commission to prolong its self-imposed deadline for the proposed takeover from 31-Jul-09 to 31-Aug-09, as “formal approval” by the European Commission “cannot be obtained in due time”.

The Takeover Commission stated it would decide this week whether the deadline could be extended. Lufthansa’s shares lost 1.1% yesterday (as has been the recent trend when the German carrier edges closer in its pursuit of Austrian).

British Airways' shares fell a further 3.0% yesterday, continuing the downward trend ahead of the release of its 1Q2009 financial results, due later this week. The FTSE 100 Index was down 1.25% at close yesterday.

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